Thread: family says suspect in Poklemba death tracked to Mexico

‘It hurts terribly,’ family says as suspect in Poklemba death tracked to Mexico

By STEVEN BEARDSLEY (Contact)
Originally published 7:00 p.m., Saturday, January 24, 2009
Updated 7:00 p.m., Saturday, January 24, 2009


Photo Gallery: Family, friends share memories of Tia Poklemba

These personal photos portray Tia Poklemba as fun-loving. The 25-year-old Bonita Springs woman was killed on a dead-end San Carlos Park road early Friday morning.



Luis Gonzalez

BONITA SPRINGS — In the heart of Christmas season, Debbie Poklemba hoped for one gift above all others: An arrest in the case of her daughter’s death.

BONITA SPRINGS — In the heart of Christmas season, Debbie Poklemba hoped for one gift above all others: An arrest in the case of her daughter’s death.

Four months had passed since 25-year-old Tia Poklemba was run over by a car and abandoned on a dead-end San Carlos Park street. The suspect, a San Carlos Park man thought to be hiding in Mexico, might briefly return to the area, investigators believed.

The timing seemed right. Christmas was fast approaching, the suspect had no criminal background, and his girlfriend was due to have his child at any moment.

They waited.

The child was born, but the suspect never showed.

Today, fresh from that disappointment, Debbie Poklemba and Lee County sheriff’s Detective Mike Carr are eager to send a message to 23-year-old Luis Gonzalez, a man they describe as an “everyday kind of guyâ€

I say he wanted sex, she said no, she got out and he ran over her.
Or she was sexually assaulted then ran over.